Michelangelo’s Last Judgment: A Lutheran Belief?

Abstract

Michelangelo’s Last Judgment is perhaps the most controversial religious painting known to the Renaissance. In the sixteenth century and beyond, the work was read in a procrustean manner as a manifesto of the Counter-Reformation, and it continues to elicit differing interpretations (Barnes 1998; De Vecchi 1986; De Maio 1978; De Tolnay 1960).¹ One of the more daring readings of the fresco is that proposed by Leo Steinberg (1975, 1980), who suggested that Michelangelo, following Origen’s doctrine of universal salvation, transcribed a “merciful heresy” into the Judgment. Other interesting approaches include that proposed by Antonio Forcellino (2002, 2005). The Italian art historian has interpreted the late frescoes, and in particular the definitive design for the funeral monument Moses, in line with the evangelical faith that Michelangelo shared with the spirituali linked to the English Cardinal, Reginald Pole, who, during his residence in Rome, promoted a cautious, pro-reform style of propaganda that was close to Lutheran positions.² More recently still, Benjamin Blech and Roy Doliner (2008) have argued that the religious character of the Judgment should be linked with Jewish teachings and the message of universal brotherhood of all religions. This chapter follows Forcellino by adopting an approach that brings together the artistic and religious dimensions, although it does so by stressing theological and literary contexts.

I am grateful to Brian Cummings for his assistance and to Massimo Firpo and Abigail Brundin for helpful comments.